A 
A 

0 
0 
0 

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Reply  to  the  Strictures  of  Lord 

on  and  Others ,  on  the  Mode 
Of  Editing  the  Writings  of 
^h  Ing  ton 

By- 
Jared  Sparks 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


REPLY 


TRICTURES  OF  LORD  MAHON  AND  OTHERS. 


ON    THE    MODE    OF    EDITING 


WRITINGS  OF  WASHINGTON. 


REPLY 


STRICTURES  OP  LORD  MAHON  AND  OTHERS, 


THE   MODE   OF  EDITING 


WRITINGS   OF   WASHINGTON. 


BY     JARED    SPARKS. 


CAMBRIDGE  : 

JOHN    BARTLETT, 

iJoofcsdlrr  to  tfic  fclmbcvsftij. 
1852. 


* 


•>"••,"' 


CAMBRIDGE: 

MKTCALF     AND     COMPANY, 
PRINTERS  TO  THE  UNIVERSITY. 


.       .. 


E 

7 


NOTICE. 


•V 

^ 


STRICTURES  on  the  method  pursued  by  the  editor  of 
"Washington's  Writings,"  in  preparing  that  work  for 
the  press,  first  appeared  in  the  New  York  Evening 
Post..  Hence  the  following  remarks,  intended  as  a  reply, 
were  directed  in  the  form  of  letters  to  the  editors  of 
that  Journal,  in  which  they  were  originally  published. 


REPLY, 


LETTER    I. 

ON  THE  GENERAL  CHARGE  OF  TAKING  AN  UNWARRANTABLE 
LIBERTY  IN  ALTERING  THE  TEXT  OF  WASHINGTON'S 
LETTERS. 

SOME  time  ago  there  appeared  in  your  paper  sev- 
eral communications  containing  comments  on  two 
or  three  letters  in  "  Washington's  Writings,"  ap- 
parently designed  to  show  the  incompetency  of  the 
editor  of  that  work  for  the  execution  of  his  task,  and 
to  place  his  fidelity  in  a  questionable  light.  Ill 
health  at  the  time  prevented  me  from  taking  such 
notice  of  those  comments,  as  their  character  and 
tendency  might  seem  to  require.  From  a  recent 
article  in  the  Evening  Post,  I  learn  that  Lord 
Mahon,  in  a  work  lately  published,  has  repeated 
them,  and  added  strictures  of  his  own.  I  am  con- 
strained, therefore,  to  ask  the  attention  of  your  read- 
ers to  a  few  remarks  touching  this  matter. 

The  charge  made  by  the  writer  in  the  Evening 
Post,  and  adopted  by  Lord  Mahon,  is,  that  the 


6 


editor  of  "Washington's  Writings,"  in  preparing 
the  manuscripts  for  the  press,  has  taken  an  unwar- 
rantable liberty  with  the  text,  altering,  omitting,  and 
adding,  as  might  suit  his  caprice,  and  that,  for  the 
purpose  of  embellishment  and  of  conforming  the 
work  to  his  own  standard  of  taste,  he  has  "  tam- 
pered with  the  truth  of  history." 

I  deny  that  any  part  of  this  charge  is  true,  in  any 
sense  which  can   authorize  the  censures  bestowed 
by  these  writers,  or  raise  a  suspicion  of  the  editor's 
fidelity  and  fairness.     It  would  certainly  be  strange, 
if  an  editor  should  undertake   to   prepare  for  the 
press   a   collection  of  manuscript  letters,  many  of 
them  hastily  written,  without  a  thought  that  they 
would  ever   be   published,  and   should  not  at  the 
same  time  regard  it  as  a  solemn  duty  to  correct  ob- 
vious  slips  of  the   pen,  occasional   inaccuracies  of 
expression,  and  manifest  faults  of  grammar,  which 
the  writer  himself,  if  he  could  have  revised  his  own 
manuscripts,  would  never  for  a  moment  have  allowed 
to  appear  in  print 

This  is  all  I  have  done  in  the  way  of  altering  or 
correcting  Washington's  letters.  The  alterations  are 
strictly  verbal  or  grammatical;  nor  am  I  conscious 
that,  in  this  process,  an  historical  fact,  the  expres- 
sion of  an  opinion,  or  the  meaning  of  a  sentence, 
has,  on  any  occasion,  been  perverted  or  modified  I 
can  confidently  affirm  that  the  editorial  corrections 


were  never  designed  to  have  such  a  tendency,  and, 
if  such  should  anywhere  appear  to  exist,  it  must  be 
accidental  and  of  little  significance.  What  possible 
motive  could  there  be  for  assuming  such  a  license  ? 
Washington's  character  certainly  did  not  require  to 
be  protected  by  so  unworthy  an  artifice;  and  least 
of  all  could  the  editor  derive  from  it  either  fame, 
profit,  or  any  other  conceivable  advantage. 

These  verbal  alterations  chiefly  occur  in  the  pri- 
vate letters,  which  were  written  in  haste  and  not 
intended  by  the  author  for  publication  ;  and  they 
make  but  a  comparatively  small  portion  of  the  work. 
In  his  official  correspondence,  and  papers  prepared 
for  the  public  eye,  no  man  was  more  precise  and 
careful  than  Washington  as  to  the  selection  of  his 
words  and  the  construction  of  his  language.  His 
private  and  confidential  letters,  like  those  of  other 
men,  were  often  negligently  written  in  regard  to 
these  particulars.  This  class  of  letters,  I  thought 
it  the  duty  of  an  editor,  as  an  act  of  justice  to  the 
memory  of  the  author,  to  revise  with  care  for  the 
press.  I  am  still  of  this  opinion.  I  executed  the 
task  according  to  my  best  discretion.  I  do  not  pre- 
tend to  infallibility  of  judgment ;  probably  no  two 
persons  would  decide  alike  in  all  cases  of  this  kind, 
some  of  which  involve  minute  distinctions  of  no 
great  moment  in  themselves ;  nor  am  I  sure  that  I 
should  now  in  every  instance  approve  my  first  de- 


8 


cisions ;  but  I  feel  that  I  have  a  right  to  claim  the 
credit  of  integrity  of  purpose,  and  of  having  faith- 
fully discharged  the  duty  set  before  me,  in  strict 
conformity  with  the  principles  explained  at  large  to 
the  public  in  the  Introduction  to  the  first  volume 
that  was  published. 

But  the  heaviest  charge  is  that  of  making  addi- 
tions. This  charge  is  entirely  without  foundation. 
Knowing  that  not  a  single  line,  or  fragment  of  a 
line,  was  intentionally  added  to  the  original  text, 
throughout  the  whole  twelve  volumes  of  the  work, 
I  confess  it  was  with  no  little  surprise  that  I  saw  a 
passage  quoted  from  a  letter  to  Joseph  Reed,  as 
printed  in  "  Washington's  Writings,"  and  declared 
by  the  writer  in  the  Evening  Post  to  be  an  invention 
of  my  own,  the  same  not  being  found  in  what  was 
supposed  to  be  an  exact  copy  of  the  original,  printed 
in  the  "  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Joseph  Reed." 
The  following  is  the  quotation. 

"  The  drift  and  design  are  obvious  ;  but  is  it  pos- 
sible that  any  sensible  nation  upon  earth  can  be  im- 
posed upon  by  such  a  cobweb  scheme  or  gauze  cover- 
ing ?  But  enough." 

In  his  comment  on  this  passage  the  writer  says ; 
"  I  assure  you  that  the  credit  of  all  the  rhetoric,  all 
the  invective,  all  the  fancy,  all  the  logic,  and  all  the 
science  of  the  lines  here  given  in  italics,  belongs 
exclusively  to  Mr.  Sparks,  and  when  he  imputed 


9 


them  to  General  Washington  he  robbed  himself, 
and,  perhaps  you  will  think,  the  General  also." 
Notwithstanding  the  writer's  assurance,  the  quota- 
tion in  italics,  word  for  word  as  here  printed,  is  in 
the  original  letter  written  by  Washington.  It  was 
doubtless  omitted  in  the  "  Life  of  Heed,"  by  an  over- 
sight of  the  transcriber,  or  by  some  other  accident. 
Every  one  knows  how  frequently  accidents  of  this 
kind  occur  in  the  passing  of  manuscripts  through  a 
transcriber's  and  printer's  hands ;  and  the  probabil- 
ity of  errors  from  this  source  should  teach  caution 
to  a  critic,  who  has  not  positive  evidence  of  his  ac- 
curacy. The  charge  was  certainly  a  grave  one,  and 
should  not  have  been  lightly  uttered.  It  could  not 
fail  to  excite  suspicion  and  distrust.  If  an  editor 
would  allow  himself  to  make  an  addition  to  the  text 
in  one  place,  he  might  do  it  in  another,  and  in  many 
others.  No  rules  of  editorial  supervision  could  jus- 
tify such  a  proceeding.  I  must  repeat,  therefore, 
that  not  a  line  has  been  anywhere  intentionally  or 
knowingly  added  to  the  text,  as  contained  either  in 
the  letter-books  or  the  originals  from  which  the  let" 
ters  were  copied  for  the  press. 

In  the  recent  article  mentioned  above.  Lord  Ma* 
hon  is  quoted  as  saying ;  "  Mr.  Sparks  has  printed 
no  part  of  the  correspondence  precisely  as  Washing- 
ton wrote  it,  but  has  greatly  altered,  and,  as  he 
thinks,  corrected  and  embellished  it."  So  loose  and 
2 


10 


sweeping  a  charge  needs  only  be  met  by  a  plain 
denial  of  its  truth,  and  a  rebuke  for  its  rashness. 
How  could  Lord  Mahon  affirm,  that  "  no  part "  is 
printed  as  written,  unless  he  had  read  the  whole 
work,  and  compared  each  letter  with  the  original "? 
Has  he  ever  made  this  comparison  1  Certainly  not, 
because  he  has  never  seen  the  originals  at  all ;  and 
there  is  no  proof  that  he  has  compared  a  fiftieth,  or 
even  a  hundredth  part,  with  other  printed  copies 
where  they  exist.  His  Lordship  also  undertakes  to 
inform  his  readers  what  the  editor  "  thinks  "  ;  but  I 
assure  him  that  the  editor  never  had  such  a  thought, 
nor  ever  dreamed  of  embellishing  Washington's  lan- 
guage in  any  manner  whatever,  nor  of  correcting  it, 
except  for  the  press,  as  above  described. 

As  to  the  general  execution  of  the  work,  I  cer- 
tainly had  the  best  reason  to  believe,  at  the  time  of 
its  publication,  and  afterwards,  that  my  labors  were 
satisfactory  to  the  public,  and  merited  praise,  but  I 
shall  again  recur  to  this  point.  Meantime  I  may, 
perhaps,  be  excused  for  inserting  two  letters,  bear- 
ing upon  it,  from  Chief  Justice  Marshall. 

"RICHMOND,  May  6th,  1834. 

"  Dear  Sir  ;  Mr.  Thompson  has  forwarded  to  me  the 
second  and  third  volumes  of  the  Writings  of  Washington, 
for  which  I  am  greatly  indebted  to  you.  I  have  perused 
them  with  much  gratification.  The  work  is  greatly  en- 
riched by  the  additions,  which  your  careful  researches  have 


11 


enabled  you  to  make  to  the  papers  you  obtained  at  Mount 
Vernon.  Your  notes  of  illustration  are  extremely  valua- 
ble. But  I  have  read  no  part  of  these  volumes  with  so 
much  pleasure,  as  the  series  of  maxims  under  the  head  of 
'  Rules  of  Civility  and  Decent  Behavior  in  Company  and 
Conversation.'  These  rules,  of  which  I  had  never  before 
heard,  furnish  a  key  with  which  to  open  the  original  char- 
acter of  this  truly  great  man. 

"  With  great  and  respectful  esteem, 
"  I  am  your  obedient 

"J.  MARSHALL." 

After  receiving  three  more  volumes,  Judge  Mar- 
shall wrote  again  as  follows. 

"  RICHMOND,  April  29th,  1835. 

"  Dear  Sir  ;  I  have  deferred  acknowledging  the  receipt 
of  your  favor  of  the  4th,  until  I  should  have  it  in  my  power 
to  look  over  three  additional  volumes  of  your  great  work, 
which  you  have  had  the  kindness  to  forward  to  me  through 
Mr.  Sanxay.  I  am  much  indebted  to  you  for  this  con- 
tinued and  gratifying  attention. 

"  Our  Washington  appears  himself,  and  consequently 
to  advantage,  in  the  full-length  portrait  you  have  given  of 
him.  Your  illustrative  notes  are  very  interesting,  and  add 
much,  in  my  opinion,  to  the  value  of  the  text.  That  in 
the  Appendix  to  the  fifth  volume,  which  develops  Con- 
way's  Cabal,  is  peculiarly  so.  Many  of  the  letters  had  not 
previously  been  seen  by  the  public. 

"  The  papers  in  the  Appendix  to  the  sixth  volume,  which 
show  the  difference  of  opinion  between  the  King  and  Lord 


12 


North  respecting  the  American  war,  disclose  an  historical 
fact  which  was  entirely  unknown,  at  least  in  this  country. 
The  obstinacy  with  which  his  Majesty  pursued  his  original 
plan,  though  previously  pretty  well  understood,  is  presented 
in  a  still  stronger  light  than  I  had  imagined.  The  more 
rational  views  entertained  by  Lord  North  were  not-  even 
suspected. 

"  The  fact  to  which  you  allude,  as  to  Champe,  had  been 
noticed  by  me  when  originally  perusing  the  letters.  I 
think  it  not  improbable  that  the  thing  might  have  been  in 
contemplation  before  the  execution  of  Andre,  and  that  the 
hope  of  saving  him  was  at  first  mixed  with  that  of  punish- 
ing Arnold.  That  the  first  object  had  become  unattain- 
able, was  probably  forgotten  when  the  narrative  was  com- 
posed. 

"  I  wish  you  all  the  fame  and  success  to  which  your 
well-directed  and  laudable  researches  entitle  you,  and  am, 
dear  sir,  with  great  respect  and  esteem, 

"  Your  obliged  and  obedient 

"  J.  MARSHALL." 

These  letters  were  written  by  a  man,  who,  from 
his  intimate  knowledge  of  Washington's  papers,  after 
having  had  the  originals  in  his  possession  for  several 
years,  and  studied  them  minutely,  was  more  compe- 
tent than  any  other  person  to  form  a  correct  judg- 
ment of  the  manner  in  which  they  had  been  edited. 
He  had  examined  and  approved  the  general  plan 
proposed  for  the  work  before  it  was  begun,  and  here 
is  an  unqualified  approval  of  the  details  of  its  execu- 
tion, after  the  first  half  was  completed. 


LETTER    II. 

THE    PRINCIPLES    AND    RULES    ADOPTED    IN    EDITING    THE 
WORK. 

WHEN  a  man  is  censured  for  his  acts  or  opinions, 
the  reasons  and  grounds  on  which  they  rest,  espe- 
cially if  he  has  frankly  and  fully  disclosed  them, 
ought,  in  all  fairness,  to  be  made  known  at  the  same 
time.  How  else  can  an  impartial  judgment  be 
formed,  or  the  real  merits  of  a  case  be  understood] 
These  dictates  of  justice  and  candor  were  overlooked 
by  the  writer  in  the  Evening  Post,  as  well  as  by  Lord 
Mahon,  who  seems  to  have  followed  closely  in  his 
steps.  No  intimation  is  given,  that  the  editor  of 
"  Washington's  Writings  "  had  explained  with  pre- 
cision and  fulness  the  plan  of  the  work,  and  the 
principles  by  which  his  editorial  labors  were  to  be 
directed,  and  that  he  had  carefully  adhered  to  this 
plan  and  these  principles. 

Readers  kept  in  ignorance  of  these  facts  might 
easily  be  led  by  the  writer's  charges  and  invectives 
to  entertain  the  suspicion,  that  the  editor  had  prac- 
tised a  .deception  upon  the  public,  or  at  least  had 
taken  liberties  which  were  designed  to  be  concealed. 
As  nothing  can  be  further  from  the  truth,  such  a 


14 


suspicion  should  have  been  prevented  by  the  more 
candid  course  of  presenting  the  subject  in  its  com- 
plete aspect  and  just  relations. 

The  following  passage,  illustrative  of  these  re- 
marks, and  not  even  alluded  to  by  the  writer  in  his 
strictures,  is  taken  from  the  Introduction  to  the  vol- 
ume of  "  Washington's  Writings  "  that  was  first 
published,  being  the  second  in  the  series. 

"  It  has  been  a  task  of  some  difficulty  to  determine 
what  general  principles  should  be  adopted,  in  select- 
ing the  parts  for  publication  from  the  whole  body  of 
papers  left  by  Washington.  In  the  first  place,  the 
mass  of  manuscripts,  which  extends  to  eighty  vol- 
umes, consisting  chiefly  of  letters,  is  so  large  as  to 
preclude  the  idea  of  publishing  more  than  a  compar- 
atively small  portion.  Again,  from  the  nature  of 
the  correspondence,  being  mostly  official,  and  many 
of  the  letters  having  been  written  to  different  persons 
on  the  same  subject,  there  are  necessarily  frequent 
repetitions,  and  numerous  particulars  constantly  in- 
tervening, which,  though  essential  at  the  time  in  the 
transactions  to  which  they  relate,  have  no  longer 
any  interest  or  moment.  Of  this  description  are  the 
innumerable  details  incident  to  the  subordinate  ar- 
rangements of  an  army,  such  as  supplies,  provisions, 
clothing,  camp  equipage,  arms,  ammunition,  and 
other  points  of  minor  consideration,  which  engaged 
the  incessant  care  of  the  Commander-in-chief,  and 


15 


entered  largely  into  his  correspondence  even  with 
Congress,   and  the  highest  officers,  both  civil   and 
military.      To  print  all  the  materials  of  this  kind 
would  not  only  be  useless  in  itself,  but  would  add 
so  much  to  the  size  and  expense  of  the  work,  as  at 
the  same  time  to  make  it  cumbersome  and  unattrac- 
tive to  readers,  and  raise  its  cost  above  the  means  of 
many  individuals,  who   may  wish  to  possess  these 
personal  records  and  authentic  memorials  of  the  acts, 
opinions,  and  character  of  the  Father  of  his  Country. 
"  Under  these  circumstances,  I  have  endeavored  to 
pursue  such  a  course  as  would  the  most  effectually 
attain  the  object  to  be  desired,  in  bringing  these 
papers  before  the  public  ;    namely,  to   exhibit  the 
writings  of  Washington  in  a  manner  that  will  render 
strict  justice  to  the  imperishable  name  of  their  au- 
thor, and  contribute  the  greatest  advantage  to  his 
countrymen,  both  at  the  present  time  and  in  future 
ages.     For  this  purpose  I  have  laid  down  two  rules, 
which  I  have  labored  to  follow  with  as  much  dis- 
crimination as  possible ;  first,  to  select  such  parts  as 
have  a  permanent  value,  on  account  of  the  historical 
facts   which   they   contain,  whether   in   relation  to 
actual  events,  or  to  the  political  designs  and  opera- 
tions in  which  Washington  was  a  leading  or  con- 
spicuous agent  ;    secondly,  to  comprise   such  other 
parts  as  contain  the  views,  opinions,  counsels,  and 
reflections  of  the  writer  on  all  kinds  of  topics,  show- 


' 


16 


ing  thereby  the  structure  of  his  mind,  its  powers  and 
resources,  and  the  strong  and  varied  points  of  his 
character.  Upon  this  plan,  it  has  been  my  study  to 
go  carefully  through  the  manuscripts,  without  regard 
to  what  has  heretofore  been  made  public,  and  gather 
from  the  whole,  and  combine  into  one  body,  the  por- 
tions most  important  for  their  intrinsic  value  and 
historical  characteristics ;  so  that  the  work,  in  its 
complete  form,  may  be  a  depository  of  all  the  writ- 
ings of  Washington  which  it  is  essential  to  preserve, 
either  as  illustrating  his  political  and  private  life,  or 
the  history  of  his  country  during  the  long  and  bril- 
liant period  of  his  public  career. 

"  According  to  this  plan,  when  a  letter  through- 
out bears  the  features  above  described,  it  will  be 
printed  entire,  as  will,  in  every  case,  the  addresses, 
speeches,  messages,  circulars,  and  other  state  papers, 
issued  by  him  from  time  to  time.  But  many  of  the 
letters,  both  in  the  public  and  private  correspond- 
ence, for  the  reasons  already  assigned,  will  neces- 
sarily be  printed  with  omissions  of  unimportant  pas- 
sages, relating  chiefly  to  topics  or  facts  evanescent  in 
their  nature,  and  temporary  in  their  design.  Special 
care  will  be  taken,  nevertheless,  in  all  such  omis- 
sions, that  the  sense  shall  not  be  marred,  nor  the 
meaning  of  the  writer  in  any  manner  perverted  or 
obscured.  Nor  is  this  difficult,  because  the  omitted 
passages  usually  treat  upon  separate  and  distinct 


17 


subjects,  and  may  be  removed  without  injury  to  the 
remaining  portions  of  the  letter. 

"  It  ought  to  be  premised  here,  that,  in  preparing 
the  manuscripts  for  the  press,  I  have  been  obliged 
sometimes  to  use  a  latitude  of  discretion,  rendered 
unavoidable  by  the  mode  in  which  the  papers  have 
been  preserved.  They  are  uniformly  copied  into 
volumes,  and  this  task  appears  to  have  been  per- 
formed, except  in  the  Revolutionary  correspondence, 
by  incompetent  or  very  careless  transcribers.  Gross 
blunders  constantly  occur,  which  not  unfrequently 
destroy  the  sense,  and  which  never  could  have  ex- 
isted in  the  original  drafts.  In  these  cases  I  have, 
of  course,  considered  it  a  duty,  appertaining  to  the 
functions  of  a  faithful  editor,  to  hazard  such  correc- 
tions as  the  construction  of  the  sentence  manifestly 
warranted,  or  a  cool  judgment  dictated.  On  some 
occasions,  the  writer  himself,  through  haste  or  inad- 
vertence, may  have  fallen  into  an  awkward  use  of 
words,  faults  of  grammar,  or  inaccuracies  of  style, 
and  when  such  occur  from  this  source,  I  have  equal- 
ly felt  bound  to  correct  them.  It  would  be  an  act 
of  unpardonable  injustice  to  any  author,  after  his 
death,  to  bring  forth  compositions,  and  particularly 
letters,  written  with  no  design  to  their  publication, 
and  commit  them  to  the  press  without  previously 
subjecting  them  to  a  careful  revision.  This  exercise 
of  an  editor's  duty,  however,  I  have  thought  it  allow- 
3 


18 


able  to  extend  only  to  verbal  and  grammatical  mis- 
takes or  inaccuracies,  maintaining  a  scrupulous  cau- 
tion that  the  author's  meaning  and  purpose  should 
thereby  in  no  degree  be  changed  or  affected." 

These  statements  embrace  the  whole  ground,  and 
they  are  so  full  and  clear,  so  free  from  disguise  and 
ambiguity,  so  direct  and  explicit  in  their  details,  that 
I  cannot  now  perceive,  upon  a  careful  revision,  how 
any  reader  could  misapprehend  their  meaning.  They 
went  out  to  the  world  with  the  first  specimen  of  the 
work,  and,  during  its  progress  of  four  years  through 
the  press,  no  critic,  friendly  or  hostile,  no  individual, 
within  my  knowledge,  ever  hinted  that  the  plan,  or 
the  rules  for  executing  it,  were  founded  on  errone- 
ous principles,  or  were  perverted  in  their  application. 
If  objections  had  been  offered  from  any  quarter  in  a 
candid  spirit,  accompanied  by  adequate  reasons,  they 
would  have  led  me  to  reconsider  the  subject,  and 
perhaps  to  modify  the  plan ;  for  it  must  be  evident, 
that  I  could  have  no  other  motive  than  that  of  exe- 
cuting the  work  in  such  a  manner  as  would  be 
approved  by  an  enlightened  public  opinion.  This 
approval  was  expressed  in  numerous  instances,  and 
without  any  censorious  comments  or  qualifying  sug- 
gestions, that  have  come  to  my  knowledge. 

In  regard  to  omissions,  it  must  be  recollected 
that  the  whole  work  is  only  a  selection,  and  pur- 
ports to  be  nothing  more.  This  is  abundantly  ex- 


19 


plained  in  the  above  extract  from  the  Introduction. 
I  am  certainly  safe  in  saying,  that  more  than  two 
thirds  of  the  whole  collection  of  manuscripts  were 
necessarily  omitted,  in  consequence  of  the  limited 
extent  to  which  it  was  proposed  to  carry  the  work. 

Lord  Mahon  has  discovered  a  passage  in  Mar- 
shall's Life  of  Washington,  which  he  takes  pains  to 
inform  his  readers  is  not  found  in  the  "  Writings." 
How  was  it  possible  to  compress  matter  sufficient 
for  thirty  or  forty  volumes  into  twelve,  without 
omissions "?  Or  what  improper  motive  can  be  imag- 
ined to  have  influenced  the  editor  in  omitting  the 
particular  passage  remarked  by  Lord  Mahon  1 

To  decide  what  papers  should  be  selected  in  pref- 
erence to  others,  where  nearly  all  of  them  were  in  a 
certain  degree  important  and  valuable,  was  felt  to  be 
a  responsible,  delicate,  and  difficult  task,  requiring 
a  discriminating  judgment,  and  perfect  impartiality, 
in  estimating  their  contents.  Moreover,  it  was  pre- 
cisely one  of  those  cases  in  which  any  two  minds, 
acting  under  different  impressions,  though  aiming  at 
the  same  end,  would  be  likely  often  to  differ  1  Un- 
der these  circumstances  the  course  was  taken  which 
was  believed  to  be  the  best  suited  to  guard  against 
erroneous  decisions  and  estimates.  The  whole  collec- 
tion of  papers,  including  as  well  the  letters  written 
by  Washington  as  those  received  by  him,  was  first 
perused  deliberately  and  with  careful  attention. 


20 


This  was  the  labor  of  nearly  a  year.  The  letters 
chosen  during  this  perusal  were  transcribed,  and 
they  formed  a  mass  much  too  large  for  the  intended 
work.  This  mass  was  several  times  revised,  and 
was  reduced  to  a  smaller  compass,  with  constant 
reference  to  the  letter-books  for  the  purpose  of  com- 
parison and  of  substituting  other  letters,  which, 
upon  further  examination,  might  seem  to  have  high- 
er claims,  either  as  preserving  a  more  connected  se- 
ries of  historical  events,  or  as  showing  in  a  stronger 
light  the  opinions,  intellectual  traits,  and  personal 
characteristics  of  the  author.  In  this  way  the  selec- 
tion for  the  whole  work  was  made ;  and  whatever 
faults  of  judgment  may  appear  as  to  the  choice  of 
one  letter  instead  of  another,  I  can  truly  affirm  that 
the  task  was  not  performed  with  negligence  or  haste, 
nor  without  due  consideration  of  every  case  as  it 
arose.  The  selection  was  reduced  by  M.  Guizot  to 
six  volumes  in  the  French  edition ;  Von  Raumer 
comprised  the  German  edition  in  two  volumes ;  and 
a  London  editor  thought  the  same  number  sufficient 
for  the  British  public. 

The  propriety  of  omitting  parts  of  letters,  and 
retaining  other  parts,  may,  perhaps,  at  first  view,  be 
thought  questionable.  But  when  it  is  considered 
that  parts  of  letters,  treating  upon  totally  distinct 
and  unconnected  topics,  are  in  reality  the  same  as 
so  many  distinct  letters,  it  is  obvious  that  to  omit 


21 


such  parts  differs  in  no  respect  from  omitting  sepa- 
rate letters.  Moreover,  if  entire  letters  had  in  every 
instance  been  printed,  it  would  have  been  neces- 
sary to  leave  out  of  the  work  much  that  was  valuable 
and  important,  which  is  now  included,  and  frequent- 
ly to  repeat  the  same  matter,  and  sometimes  in  the 
same  language. 

In  the  correspondence  during  the  Revolution,  it 
often  happened  that  several  letters  were  written 
nearly  at  the  same  time  to  different  persons,  the 
President  of  Congress,  the  governors  of  States,  offi- 
cers of  the  army,  or  other  official  characters,  in  which 
not  only  the  same  facts  were  communicated,  and  the 
same  topics  discussed,  but  whole  paragraphs  were 
almost  literally  transcribed  from  one  letter  into 
others.  These  repetitions  grew  out  of  the  nature  of 
the  business  in  hand,  and  could  not  have  been  avoid- 
ed without  unnecessary  circumlocutions  and  strained 
attempts  to  seek  a  variety  of  language  for  expressing 
the  same  ideas.  As  to  letters  of  this  description,  it 
was  the  practice  to  print  some  one  of  them  entire, 
and  to  select  from  the  others  such  parts  as  were  free 
from  repetitions.  But  in  all  omissions,  whether  for 
these  reasons  or  others,  whether  short  or  long,  spe- 
cial care  was  taken  not  to  break  off  in  the  midst  of 
a  topic  or  train  of  thought,  and  not,  by  any  abrupt 
transition,  to  weaken  or  obscure  the  sense  of  the 
author. 


22 


By  these  principles  and  rules  I  was  guided  in 
selecting  the  papers  for  the  press.  That  the  work 
is  faultless  in  this  part  of  its  execution,  or  in  any 
other,  I  cannot  suppose,  being  fully  aware  of  the 
innumerable  chances  of  error  in  every  undertaking 
so  extensive  and  complex.  Letters  may  possibly 
have  been  omitted  through  oversight,  or  a  mistake 
of  judgment,  or  by  accident,  which  might  be  advan- 
tageously substituted  for  some  of  those  retained.  It 
would  be  strange  if  it  were  not  so.  But  it  was 
never  imagined  that  a  letter  would  be  lost  to  the 
world  because  it  was  not  comprised  in  this  selection. 
It  was  presumed  that  such  of  the  large  mass  of  pa- 
pers, still  unprinted,  as  have  any  interest  for  the 
public,  would  be  brought  out  at  some  future  time. 
By  the  contract  between  Judge  Washington  and 
Chief  Justice  Marshall  on  the  one  part,  and  myself 
on  the  other,  the  copyright  of  the  work  belonged, 
in  equal  shares,  to  them  and  to  me ;  and  the  rights 
thus  secured  to  them  are  now  held  by  their  heirs. 
The  Washington  manuscripts  were  purchased  by 
Congress,  several  years  after  this  contract  was  made, 
and  with  a  full  understanding  of  its  terms  and  con- 
ditions. All  the  papers  not  covered  by  this  copy- 
right are  as  free  to  be  published  now,  as  any  others 
in  the  possession  of  the  government. 


LETTER    III. 

THE  CONDITION  IN    WHICH    MANY   OF    WASHINGTON'S    LETTERS 
WERE    LEFT    IN    REGARD    TO    THE    TEXT. 

IN  this  letter  it  is  proposed  to  speak  further  of 
the  text  of  "  Washington's  Writings,"  as  found  in 
his  letter-books  and  in  the  originals  sent  to  his  cor- 
respondents. The  following  extract  from  the  Pref- 
ace to  the  work  bears  directly  on  this  point. 

"  In  regard  to  the  text,  also,  it  is  proper  here  to 
repeat  what  has  been  said  in  another  place,  that 
frequent  embarrassments  have  occurred.  It  was 
Washington's  custom,  in  all  his  letters  of  impor- 
tance, first  to  write  drafts,  which  he  transcribed. 
In  making  the  transcripts  he  sometimes  deviated 
from  the  drafts,  omitting,  inserting,  and  altering 
parts  of  sentences ;  nor  did  he  always  correct  the 
drafts,  so  as  to  make  them  accord  with  the  letters  as 
sent  to  his  correspondents.  These  imperfect  drafts 
were  laid  aside,  and  from  time  to  time  copied  by  an 
amanuensis  into  the  letter-books.  Hence  the  drafts, 
as  now  recorded,  do  not  in  all  cases  agree  precisely 
with  the  originals  that  were  sent  away.  My  re- 
searches have  brought  under  my  inspection  many 
of  these  original  letters.  Regarding  them  as  con- 


24 


taining  the  genuine  text,  I  have  preferred  it  to  that 
in  the  letter-books,  and  it  has  accordingly  been 
adopted  wherever  it  could  be  done. 

"  But  the  discrepancies  are  of  little  moment,  re- 
lating to  the  style,  and  not  to  the  substance.  For 
the  most  part,  I  have  been  obliged  to  rely  on  the 
letter-books ;  and,  for  the  reasons  here  mentioned,  it 
is  probable  that  the  printed  text  may  not  in  every 
particular  be  the  same  as  in  the  originals,  that  is, 
the  corrected  copies,  which  were  sent  to  his  corre- 
spondents. These  remarks  apply  chiefly  to  private 
letters,  written  when  Washington  was  at  Mount 
Vernon,  and  to  those  written  during  the  French 
war.  In  the  periods  of  the  Revolution  and  the 
Presidency,  much  more  exactness  was  observed ; 
and,  as  far  as  my  observation  has  extended,  there 
is  generally  a  literal  accordance  between  the  original 
letters  and  the  transcripts  in  the  letter-books." 

These  remarks  were  intended  distinctly  to  explain 
the  actual  state  of  the  case,  and  the  embarrassments 
attending  it,  with  the  view  both  of  conveying  proper 
information  to  the  public,  and  of  removing  every 
ground  of  suspicion  and  misapprehension  in  regard 
to  the  manner  in  which  these  embarrassments  were 
met  by  the  editor. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  above  statement,  and  as 
an  evidence  of  the  facility  with  which  hasty  criti- 
cism may  deceive  itself  and  run  to  false  conclusions, 


25 


we  may  recur  to  a  prominent  passage  selected  by  the 
writer  in  the  Evening  Post,  in  support  of  his  charge 
of  alteration  and  perversion  of  the  text.  He  quotes 
the  following  extract  from  one  of  Washington's  let- 
ters, as  printed  in  the  "  Life  of  Joseph  Reed,"  dated 
December  12th,  1778. 

"  What  did  or  could  prompt  the  knight  (Sir  Henry 
Clinton)  to  this  expedition,  is  beyond  the  reach  of  my  con- 
ception, considering  the  unseasonableness  of  it.  Three 
things  only  appeared  to  me  probable ;  a  rescue  of  the  Con- 
vention troops,  a  stroke  at  the  rear  of  our  army,  or  a  sur- 
prise of  the  posts  in  the  Highlands.  The  two  first  I  had 
seen  perfectly  out  of  his  reach  before  I  left  the  North 
River,  and  not  conceiving  that  he  could  miss  it  so  much  in 
point  of  intelligence  as  to  mistime  matters  so  egregiously, 
(if  either  of  the  other  two  was  his  object,)  it  followed  of 
consequence,  that  the  last  must  be  his  aim ;  and  though 
I  had  left  him,  as  I  thought,  in  a  state  of  security,  and  in 
the  hands  of  a  good  officer,  McDougall,  I  could  not  help 
being  uneasy,  lest  some  disaster  might  befall  them.  I  post- 
ed back  from  Elizabethtown  on  the  morning  of  the  5th, 
and  got  within  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  of  King's  Ferry, 
when  I  was  met  by  an  express  informing  me  that  the 
enemy  had  landed  at  that  place,  set  fire  to  two  small  logjd 
houses,  destroyed  nine  barrels  of  spoiled  herrings  and  had 
set  sail  for  New  York."  , 

In  contrast  with  this  passage,  the  writer  produces 
the  following,  as  printed  in  "  Washington's  Writ- 
ings." 

4 


26 


"  What  did  or  could  prompt  the  knight  to  this  expe- 
dition, I  am  at  a  loss  to  discover,  considering  the  unseason- 
ableness  of  it.  Three  things  only  appear  to  me  probable ; 
a  rescue  of  the  Convention  troops,  a  stroke  at  the  rear  of 
our  army,  or  a  surprise  of  our  posts  in  the  Highlands. 
The  two  first  I  had  seen  perfectly  out  of  his  reach  before 
I  left  the  North  River;  and,  not  conceiving  that  he  could 
be  so  much  out  in  point  of  intelligence,  as  to  mistime  mat- 
ters so  egregiously,  if  either  of  the  two  first  was  his  object, 
it  followed,  of  consequence,  that  the  last  must  be  his  aim ; 
and,  though  I  had  left  them,  as  I  thought,  in  a  state  of 
security,  and  in  the  hands  of  a  good  officer,  McDougall, 
I  could  not  help  being  uneasy  lest  a  disaster  might  hap- 
pen ;  and  I  posted  back  from  Elizabethtown  at  four  o'clock 
in  the  morning  of  the  Oth,  and  got  within  twelve  or  fifteen 
miles  of  King's  Ferry,  when  I  was  met  by  an  express,  in- 
forming me  that  the  enemy  had  landed  at  that  place, 
burned  two  or  three  log-houses,  with  nine  barrels  of  spoilt 
herrings,  and  had  reembarked  and  sailed  for  New  York 
again" 

The  editor  is  charged  with  having  made  all  the 
alterations  here  indicated  by  the  italics.  To  this 
charge  no  other  reply  is  necessary,  than  that  it  is 
erroneous.  The  extract  from  the  letter  in  "  Wash- 
ington's Writings  "  is  printed  exactly  as  it  is  record- 
ed in  the  letter-book,  from  which  it  was  transcribed 
for  the  press,  except  in  two  instances.  Before  disas- 
ter the  letter  a  is  inserted;  the  original  text  reads 
"lest  disaster."  In  the  letter-book  are  the  words 


27 


logged  houses,  (not  log'd  houses,  as  in  Mr.  Reed's 
copy,)  and  this  was  printed  log-houses.  Whether 
these  corrections  were  made  by  me,  or  by  the  proof- 
reader, I  cannot  now  undertake  to  determine.  Nor 
am  I  bound  to  reconcile  the  discrepances  between 
the  two  copies.  I  followed  the  only  one  in  my  pos- 
session. 

Take  another  example  from  Marshall's  "  Life  of 
"Washington,"  (Vol.  V.  p.  15,)  where  is  an  extract 
from  a  letter  to  Governor  Harrison,  of  Virginia, 
dated  October  10th,  1784,  and  printed  in  the  words 
following. 

"  I  need  not  remark  to  you,  Sir,  that  the  flanks  and  rear 
of  the  United  States  are  possessed  by  other  powers,  and 
formidable  ones  too  ;  nor  need  I  press  the  necessity  of  ap- 
plying the  cement  of  interest  to  bind  all  parts  of  the  Union 
together  by  indissoluble  bonds  ;  especially  of  binding  that 
part  of  it  which  lies  immediately  west  of  us,  to  the  Middle 
States.  For  what  ties,  let  me  ask,  should  we  have  upon 
those  people,  how  entirely  unconnected  with  them  shall 
we  be,  and  what  troubles  may  we  not  apprehend,  if  the 
Spaniards  on  their  right,  and  Great  Britain  on  their  left, 
instead  of  throwing  impediments  in  their  way,  as  they  now 
do,  should  hold  out  lures  for  their  trade  and  alliance  ? 
When  they  get  strength,  which  will  be  sopner  than  most 
people  conceive,  what  will  be  the  consequence  of  their 
having  formed  close  commercial  connections  with  both,  or 
either  of  those  powers  ?  It  needs  not,  in  my  opinion,  the 
gift  of  prophecy  to  foretell." 


28 


In  "  Washington's  Writings,"  this  letter  is  print- 
ed from  the  letter-book,  in  which  the  above  para- 
graph is  word  for  word  as  follows. 

"  I  need  not  remark  to  you,  Sir,  that  the  flanks  and  rear 
of  the  United  States  are  possessed  by  other  powers,  and 
formidable  ones  too ;  nor  how  necessary  it  is  to  apply  the 
cement  of  interest  to  bind  all  parts  of  the  Union  together 
by  indissoluble  bonds,  especially  that  part  of  it,  which  lies 
immediately  west  of  us,  with  the  Middle  States.  For  what 
ties,  let  me  ask,  should  we  have  upon  those  people  ?  How 
entirely  unconnected  with  them  shall  we  be,  and  what 
troubles  may  we  not  apprehend,  if  the  Spaniards  on  their 
right,  and  Great  Britain  on  their  left,  instead  of  throwing 
stumbling-blocks  in  their  way,  as  they  now  do,  should  hold 
out  lures  for  their  trade  and  alliance  ?  What,  when  they 
get  strength,  which  will  be  sooner  than  most  people  con- 
ceive, (from  the  emigration  of  foreigners,  who  will  have  no 
particular  predilection  towards  us,  as  well  as  from  the  re- 
moval of  our  own  citizens,)  will  be  the  consequence  of  their 
having  formed  close  connections  with  both  or  either  of 
those  powers,  in  a  commercial  way  ?  It  needs  not,  in  my 
opinion,  the  gift  of  prophecy  to  foretell." 

Here  are  what  may  be  considered  important  vari- 
ations. Whence  do  they  arise  ?  It  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  ascertain ;  or  to  decide  what  text  was  adopted 
by  Judge  Marshall.  I  had  no  other  than  that  in 
the  letter-book. 

We  may  draw  another  illustration  from  a  letter  to 
Kichard  Henry  Lee,  dated  December  14th,  1784. 


29 


The  following  paragraph  is  taken  from  the  original 
letter. 

"  Individual  States  opposing  the  measures  of  the  United 
States,  encroaching  upon  the  territory  of  one  another,  and 
setting  up  old  and  obsolete  claims,  is  verifying  the  predic- 
tions of  our  enemies,  and  in  reality  is  truly  unfortunate. 
If  the  western  tribes  are  as  well  disposed  to  treat  with  us 
as  the  northern  Indians  have  been,  and  will  cede  a  compe- 
tent district  of  country  northwest  of  the  Ohio  to  answer 
our  present  purposes,  it  would  be  a  circumstance  as  unex- 
pected as  pleasing  to  me  ;  for  it  was  apprehended,  if  they 
agreed  to  the  latter  at  all,  it  would  be  reluctantly ;  but  the 
example  of  the  Six  Nations,  who,  if  they  have  not  relin- 
quished their  claim,  have  pretensions  to  a  large  part  of 
those  lands,  may  have  a  powerful  influence  on  the  western 
gentry,  and  smooth  the  way  for  the  commissioners,  who 
have  proceeded  to  Fort  Pitt" 

The  same  paragraph  transcribed  from  the  letter- 
book  is  as  follows. 

"  Individual  States  opposing  the  measures  of  the  United 
States,  encroaching  upon  the  territory  of  each  other,  and 
setting  up  old  and  obsolete  claims,  is  verifying  the  predic- 
tion of  our  enemies,  and  is  truly  unfortunate.  If  the  west- 
ern tribes  are  as  well  disposed  to  treat  with  us  as  the  Six 
Nations  have  been,  and  will  cede  a  competent  district  of 
land  northwest  of  the  Ohio  to  answer  our  present  pur- 
poses, it  will  be  a  circumstance  as  unexpected  as  pleasing 
to  me  ;  for  it  was  apprehended  that  they  would  agree  to  the 
latter  reluctantly,  if  at  all;  but  the  example  of  the  northern 


30 


Indians,  who,  if  they  have  not  relinquished  their  claim, 
have  pretensions  to  a  large  part  of  those  lands,  may 
have  a  powerful  influence  on  the  western  gentry,  and 
smooth  the  way  for  the  commissioners,  who  have  pro- 
ceeded to  Cuyahoga" 

These  specimens  will  serve  to  show  the  state  of 
the  text  in  a  large  portion  of  Washington's  letters, 
as  they  now  exist  in  manuscript,  particularly  those 
written  at  Mount  Vernon,  and  others  of  a  private 
nature  written  elsewhere.  The  originals  sent  to  his 
correspondents  seldom  agree  throughout  in  phrase- 
ology with  the  copies  retained  on  record.  More- 
over, these  copies  are  constantly  marred  by  the 
blunders  or  mistakes  of  illiterate  or  careless  tran- 
scribers. For  the  most  part,  there  was  no  resource 
for  the  editor  but  to  follow  the  letter-books.  Hence 
the  text  of  many  letters  in  "  Washington's  Writ- 
ings," compared  with  other  copies,  whether  found 
in  print  or  in  manuscript,  must  necessarily  aiford 
abundant  materials  for  the  kind  of  criticisms  in 
which  the  writer  in  the  Evening  Post,  and  Lord 
Mahon,  have  indulged  themselves  with  so  much 
freedom  of  censure. 

Another  example,  still  more  striking,  may  be 
mentioned.  Washington  kept  a  copy  of  his  official 
correspondence  during  his  military  services  in  the 
last  French  war  before  the  Revolution,  written  on 
sheets  loosely  stitched  together.  Some  twenty  or 


31 


thirty  years  afterwards  he  revised  this  manuscript, 
making  numerous  erasures,  interlineations,  and  cor- 
rections in  almost  every  letter.  This  corrected  copy 
was  then  transcribed  into  bound  volumes  under  his 
own  direction.  "Which  is  now  the  genuine  text  I 
Which  would  Washington  himself  have  printed"? 

The  one  in  the  letter-books  was  adopted,  because 
it  seemed  obvious,  that,  after  the  pains  he  had  taken 
to  prepare  it,  he  intended  that  copy  for  permanent 
preservation  and  use.  It  would  be  easy  to  cavil 
here,  and  say  that  we  have  not  the  precise  lan- 
guage employed  by  Washington  to  convey  his 
thoughts  at  the  time  the  letters  were  written,  but 
a  garbled  substitute  introduced  at  a  much  later 
day.  Yet  this  was  an  act  of  his  own,  and  cer- 
tainly no  editor  would  be  justified  in  disregarding 
it.  In  these  letters,  therefore,  the  same  kind  of 
discrepancies  will  necessarily  appear,  as  in  the  cases 
alluded  to  above,  between  the  printed  text  and 
that  of  the  originals  sent  out  to  his  correspond- 
ents. 

Before  closing  these  remarks,  I  may  perhaps  be 
pardoned  for  adding  a  few  other  particulars  re- 
specting the  execution  of  the  work. 

General  Washington  bequeathed  all  his  papers 
and  books  to  his  nephew,  Bushrod  Washington,  by 
whom  they  were  retained  at  Mount  Vernon.  It  is 
well  known  that  Chief  Justice  Marshall  had  the 


free  use  of  these  papers  while  writing  his  "  Life  of 
Washington."  For  many  years  afterwards  they 
were  not  consulted  for  any  historical  purpose, 
although  some  progress  was  made  by  Judge  Wash- 
ington in  selecting  a  portion  of  them  for  the  press. 
This  design  was  abandoned,  however,  and,  by  a 
contract  with  those  gentlemen,  the  task  of  carry- 
ing out  a  similar  design  on  a  larger  scale  than 
had  been  contemplated  was  assigned  to  me,  under 
certain  regulations  and  conditions  agreed  upon  by 
the  parties,  and  defined  in  the  contract.  Imme- 
diately after  signing  this  contract  in  the  city  of 
Washington,  I  was  engaged  three  months  at  Mount 
Vernon  in  a  general  inspection  and  arrangement 
of  the  papers,  which  were  ultimately  transferred 
to  Boston.  They  remained  in  my  possession  ten 
years,  till  the  publication  of  the  work  was  com- 
pleted. 

It  was  an  essential  feature  of  the  plan,  that  the 
work  was  not  to  be  merely  a  compilation  of  Wash- 
ington's letters,  but  was  to  comprise  additional  and 
illustrative  matter  gathered  from  various  original 
sources,  which  would  give  a  new  value  to  the  let- 
ters, and  afford  new  developments  of  the  private 
and  historical  character  of  the  author.  Fully 
aware  of  the  importance  of  being  prepared  to  ex- 
ecute the  work  thoroughly  and  faithfully,  accord- 
ing to  the  plan  proposed,  by  previous  research 


33 


and  study,  I  visited  the  public  offices  of  all  the 
old  Thirteen  States,  and  personally  inspected  the 
papers  in  them  relating  to  the  Revolution,  and 
particularly  such  as  would  illustrate  Washington's 
letters,  and  the  events  with  which  he  was  more 
or  less  connected.  Copies  of  the  most  valuable  of 
these  papers,  constituting  a  rich  collection  of  his- 
torical materials,  were  obtained.  With  the  same 
object  in  view,  and  with  similar  results,  I  sought 
out  and  examined  the  private  papers,  then  remain- 
ing, of  many  of  the  chief  actors  in  the  Revolution. 

Having  thus  procured  such  aids  as  my  opportuni- 
ties would  permit  in  this  country,  I  then  made  a 
voyage  to  Europe  for  the  express  purpose  of  contin- 
uing my  researches  there.  I  passed  a  year  in  the 
public  offices  of  London  and  Paris,  diligently  em- 
ployed in  examining  the  voluminous  collections  of 
papers  contained  in  them  relating  to  the  American 
war,  and  treating  both  of  political  and  military 
affairs.  By  the  courtesy  and  liberality  of  the  gov- 
ernments of  Great  Britain  and  France,  I  was  al- 
lowed to  have  free  access  to  these  papers,  and  to 
procure  copies  of  such  as  were  suited  to  my  ob- 
ject. 

These  facts  are  briefly  stated,  to  show  that  the 

work  was  not  undertaken  with  a  narrow  estimate 

of  its   importance  ;    that    neither   time,  nor    labor, 

nor  expense  was   spared   in   the   preparation ;   and 

5 

358676 


that  in  these  respects  the  editor  cannot  be  charged 
with  haste  or  negligence.  The  original  materials 
thus  collected  from  many  sources,  and  possessing 
the  highest  degree  of  authenticity,  furnished  the 
notes  and  appendices  to  the  several  volumes.  Good 
judges  have  not  failed  to  see  in  them  a  large  body 
of  interesting  facts,  which  had  not  before  been 
made  public,  and  which  contribute  to  elucidate  at 
once  the  character  and  deeds  of  Washington,  and 
that  portion  of  the  history  of  the  country  with 
which  these  are  so  intimately  blended.  It  was 
my  steady  aim  throughout,  while  enlarging  the 
bounds  of  historical  knowledge,  to  elicit  truth  as 
far  as  it  could  be  done  by  bringing  together  con- 
temporary testimonies  of  unquestionable  authority, 
and  thus  to  render  justice  to  the  designs,  conduct, 
and  character  of  the  principal  actors,  to  whatever 
side  or  party  they  might  belong. 

The  contest  between  England  and  her  former 
colonies  partook  of  many  of  the  characteristics  of 
a  civil  war,  inflaming  the  passions  and  perverting 
the  judgment  of  both  parties ;  and  it  was  a  neces- 
sary consequence,  that  there  should  be  erroneous 
opinions  and  false  impressions  in  this  country  con- 
cerning the  motives,  policy,  and  plans  of  the  Brit- 
ish ministry,  as  well  as  of  their  military  officers 
commanding  in  America,  and  that  these  should 
give  a  coloring  to  the  correspondence  of  the  time. 


In  cases  of  this  kind,  special  care  was  taken,  when 
practicable,  to  correct  such  errors,  as  well  as  oth- 
ers derived  from  a  defective  knowledge  of  facts, 
by  a  free  use  of  the  materials  procured  from  the 
British  offices,  in  which  the  ministers  and  the 
military  commanders  speak  for  themselves.  A 
British  historian  might  perhaps  find  something  to 
commend  in  the  results  of  these  attempts,  which 
were  at  least  prompted  by  a  high  motive ;  and  I 
am  persuaded  that  every  American  reader  will  be 
pleased  to  see  the  name  of  Washington  associated 
with  any  historical  illustrations  tending  to  estab- 
lish truth  and  justice. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


REC'D  ID-URL 

MAY  13  193* 


315 


Form  L-P 
2om-l.'42(8nia) 


Ga; 


E 

312.7  Sparks  - 
1834a  A  reply  to 

the 

strictures   of  Lord 
Mahon  and  others  . 


"•f!  IN  Mill  MM    i    |      ||   |    |      ||      ||     |||     |       | 

L  007  056  661  7 


E 

312.7 

1834a 


